Hickey: FBS chaos won't harm UTSA

Updated 1:12 am, Friday, October 28, 2011

If you ever want to make UTSA athletic director Lynn Hickey uncomfortable, here's a sure-fire bet: Stick a recorder in her face.

It's in Hickey's DNA to be polite and accommodating, and in some instances she even seems to enjoy dealing with the media. But to say she generally isn't comfortable with the fourth estate is an understatement.

One subject she doesn't shy away from, however, is the future of her athletic program. Indeed, Hickey becomes bold, almost brash, when discussing how the ongoing realignment of college athletics might affect her Roadrunners.

“We're going to have a great, great program,” she said. “I really have the confidence that ... we're going to be able to affiliate with a big group of schools we can be competitive with, and that we've demonstrated we have value.”

Right now that means the Western Athletic Conference, which UTSA officially will join next year.

But as already has happened numerous times since UTSA accepted the WAC's invitation last November, the latest round of realignment rumors shed doubt on the league's future. This time, it's an alleged mega-merger between the Big East, Mountain West and Conference USA that could pluck multiple schools from the WAC, programs it can ill afford to lose.

Utah State, Louisiana Tech and San Jose State were named by several media outlets, including the Boston Globe, as being part of a potential 32-team conglomerate. An anonymous C-USA source said that was probably more for modeling purposes, with none of the three having been officially contacted.

But the mere mention of three of his seven remaining football schools, beginning in 2012, led WAC commissioner Karl Benson to release a statement on Wednesday, in which he reiterated his commitment to build the league up to 12 members, including nine for football.

“Once the current national landscape has settled, we will begin conversations with (new members),” Benson's release read.

Trouble is, the current national landscape probably won't be settled any time soon.

As is the rule with realignment talk, “could” and “might” are the operative words. One day West Virginia is portrayed as a lock to join the Big 12. The next it's said to be facing competition from Louisville, thanks to behind-the-scenes lobbying from a U.S. senator.

Whatever happens next likely will hinge on Missouri, whose impending move to the SEC — yet another “done deal” that apparently wasn't — has been put on hold. Its departure would lead the Big 12 to raid the Big East, which, in turn, already has put out feelers to numerous replacement schools from the Mountain West and C-USA.

Hence, the bold notion of a mega-league, in which sheer numerical strength would minimize any predatory damage and preserve its all-important automatic BCS berth.

So where does UTSA figure into all this madness?

The Roadrunners could either be in need of a new home, or they could be part of the Big Mountain USA mix thanks to the demonstrated value Hickey speaks of — their location in an untapped major market, and the impressive attendance figures during their inaugural football season.

An anonymous source told the Express-News several weeks ago that UTSA is on C-USA's “short list” of potential candidates.

Turns out that short list is actually quite long, according to the C-USA source, comprising “more than 10” schools from the Sun Belt, WAC and Mid-American conferences. The Roadrunners are on it, but no formal discussions have take place to examine their merits.

The same source would not say whether Texas State was on the list.

Hickey said she has no better read on what might happen than anybody else. No matter what, she said, “We're going to be in an FBS conference. The greatest thing that's happened with this year (is) we're no longer an unknown.”